Gareth Pugh, A/W 15/16

I’m assuming as a reward for taking care of my sick self all week, I managed to catch the livestream of Gareth Pugh’s A/W 15/16 film and runway show this afternoon (edit: the entirety of which is now posted here). The live SHOWstudio panel discussion hosted by Lou Stoppard, in fact, is still going on (oops, not anymore), but photos of the show are still yet to surface (edit: they have now – scroll to bottom of post to see some of my favorites). And so, here are my screenshots of the slightly fuzzy video (and screenshots of the video of a video).

As you all know, I’m exceptionally biased towards Mr. Pugh’s work, after meeting him in person and all. But, really, this collection is most excellent, bias or not. Returning to London, an all black-palette, and a disregard for what is expected (i.e. using not just a film [from the wonderful Ruth Hogben] – screenshots from which are seen above and on the front page – but also a more traditional yet darkened catwalk show), Gareth freely explored his well-established aesthetic in a variety of materials and textures.

As clearly seen in the film (hopefully to be posted lateredit: posted now here) that played first and during the catwalk portion of the show, the narrative of which portrays a woman as both a saint and a dragon of sorts, the whole collection was capped off with a striking religious element and symbolic questioning of… – the fashion world, perhaps? – with the question mark-like headpiece that I first thought might be like that feathered mohawk helmet he did years go, until the darkness parted and I saw it from the side. Then, in the closing piece (see below – the fuzziest screenshots, I’m afraid), there was both question mark and flag, the whole collection taking on a very 1st-Century-Roman-Empire-meets-William-Wallace-meets-the-Crusades sort of vibe, or at least staging some sort of stylish but informed dissent against, well, plenty, I’m sure. As always, Mr. Pugh, it’s been a pleasure.

Edit: Here are some of the catwalk photos that were posted on UK Vogue (including the last rather powerful look that closed the show)…

…and here are two last screenshots, featuring close-ups of the details of the last two beaded-look pieces from above, using UK Vogue’s handy zoom feature. Those long beads are apparently black drinking straws. Incredible. No wonder the movement of the ‘beaded’ pieces looked so very unexpected.